The present invention relates to an electronic money card and an apparatus handling an electronic money card, and in particular, to an electronic money card of an electronic money type in which a token type and a value type are mixed, to an electronic money system handling the electronic money card, and to an apparatus for use with the electronic money card in the electronic money system.
Attentions has been recently attracted to an electronic commerce (EC). In such commercial systems, an electronic money system using an IC card is to about to be put to practice in which electronic money can be used in a store existing on a network such as the Internet and an actual store. Electronic money systems using IC cards are classified into systems of xe2x80x9cclosed loop typexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9copen loop typexe2x80x9d on one hand and into those of xe2x80x9ctoken typexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cvalue typexe2x80x9d on the other hand.
One of the problems associated with practical uses of such electronic money systems of the IC card type is prevention of money laundering for money illegally gained. (xe2x80x9cMoney launderingxe2x80x9d is conducted so that any traces of the dubious money are erased and the money is beyond the reach of the police.) In the electronic money system of the closed loop type, when a transaction is achieved by a store and a financial institution or facility such as a bank with an electronic money card, personal transaction history recorded in the electronic money card is transferred to a computer of the bank. Since personal information is accumulated in the bank, there exists a fear of invasion of privacy. Moreover, a large volume of transaction history is transmitted via terminal devices and automatic transaction machines of stores and a network to the computer of the bank, to be accumulated as transaction history in a recording apparatus of the computer. Consequently, there arises a problem of increase in cost for communication, processing, and accumulation of information. In the electronic money system of the open loop type, the personal history is not acquired by the computer of the bank when a transaction is achieved by an electronic money card. Therefore, the invasion of privacy is prevented and the problems related to the communication, processing, and accumulation cost can be avoided. However, there also remains the problem of how to trace the electronic money transported for the money laundering.
On the other hand, in the electronic money system of the value type, the balance of electronic money in the electronic money card is managed only in accordance with the value (amount). Namely, this system is quite simple and can be easily put to practice. However, since only the amount of payment or receipt is recorded in the transaction history of the electronic money card, the tracing of electronic money transported causes difficulties.
In the electronic money system of the token type, the electronic money balance is managed by the issuance number of each electronic bill. That is, the transaction history includes the bill issuance numbers and hence the transported electronic money can be easily traced. However, since the minimum unit of money is one yen for the bill issuance number, the cost of accumulating the transaction history in the electronic money card is increased and the processing time is accordingly elongated. Consequently, this system is unsuitable for practice.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electronic money system in which the privacy of each customer can be ensured and the transported electronic money can be easily traced without increasing the cost of communication, accumulation, and processing of information and data with respect to an electronic money card and a computer of a financial facility and the like.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic money card which can be satisfactorily used for transactions of a small amount of money with a little increase in the cost and which ensures the privacy and helps tracing the transported electronic money for the prevention of money laundering.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an electronic money card of a token and value mixed type. In the electronic money card, there are stored issuance numbers of relatively large denomination bills and the balance of coins as a value amount. When the coin balance is equal to or more than the transaction amount, the coins are preferentially used for the payment. When the coin balance is insufficient, bills are used therefor. For a remaining amount of a transaction for which the coin balance and the bills are not appropriately used for the payment, a bill is changed into a value amount of coins and used for the payment. Additionally, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided an electronic money transporting apparatus or transporter to handle the electronic money card of the token and value mixed type. From an electronic money card of a payer, the transporter receives an issuance number of a bill and/or a value amount of coins and then passes the number and the value amount to an electronic card of a recipient. The card of the recipient stores the received number in an internal storage thereof and adds the value amount of coins to the coin balance.
Furthermore, when a bill is changed into a value amount of coins in an electronic card, the issuance number of the bill thus changed is recorded as an invalid bill in the electronic card. In this case, the invalid bill is also used as a clue or lead to trace the transported electronic money. In a transaction achieved by an electronic money card with a financial facility, an automatic transaction machine (ATM) receives a card identifier (ID) and an issuance number of the invalid bill from the electronic money card during a depositing or withdrawing operation and then transmits the card ID and the issuance number to a computer of the financial facility. Particularly, in the money depositing operation, the ATM receives an issuance number of a bill deposited from the electronic money card and transmits the number to the computer. On receiving the issuance number of the deposited bill and the issuance number of the invalid bill, the ATM then and then stores the card ID and the received issuance numbers in a storage with a correspondence established therebetween.
As described above, in accordance with the present invention, the electronic money card is a token and value mixed type in which a bill having an issuance number and coins having only a value amount are appropriately utilized depending on cases. Therefore, there is provided an electronic money card in which the transferred electronic money can be easily traced and a transaction of a small amount of money can be efficiently carried out without increasing the cost. Additionally, when conducting a transaction by an electronic money card with a financial facility, the issuance number of the invalid bill registered to the card and the issuance number of the deposited bill are accumulated in a computer of the financial facility. However, since the transaction history recorded in the card is not passed to the side of the financial facility in the open loop system, there can be implemented an electronic money system in which the transferred electronic money can be easily traced without any invasion of privacy. Furthermore, it is possible to minimize the cost of communication, processing, and accumulation to register the invalid bill and the deposited bill to the financial facility.